Krystyna Laycraft
"Dissipative Structure", 2006, mixed media, 24"x24"
Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1977 for his contribution to the theory of dissipative structure. They are formed by interaction with the outside world and embedded in non-equilibrium conditions. When the flow of energy and matter through them increases, they may go through bifurcation points. Close to bifurcation points the fluctuations and instabilities become abnormally high. They transform themselves into new structures of increased complexity. The characteristic feature of these transformations is the change from repetitive and universal to the specific and unique behavior. We can say that non-equilibrium is a source of new order.